Who is lining up at gun stores to buy military weapons because Obama wins elections? For 300 years, white guys with guns have run roughshod over America and the rest of the world and now that is coming to an end, many of these guys are scared to death.

9. The gun lobby's newfound embrace of minorities is as forced and awkward as the Republicans

Excerpt from Charlton Heston's "white guy speech"

"Then you are a victim of the cultural war. You are a casualty of the cultural warfare being waged against traditional American freedom of beliefs and ideas. Now maybe you don't care one way or the other about owning a gun. But I could've asked for a show of hands on Pentecostal Christians, or pro-lifers, or right-to-workers, or Promise Keepers, or school voucher-ers, and the result would be the same. What if the same question were asked at your PTA meeting? Would you raise your hand if Dan Rather were in the back of the room there with a film crew?

See? Good. Still, if you didn't, you have been assaulted and robbed of the courage of your convictions. Your pride in who you are, and what you believe, has been ridiculed, ransacked, plundered. It may be a war without bullet or bloodshed, but with just as much liberty lost: You and your country are less free.

And you are not inconsequential people! You in this room, whom many would say are among the most powerful people on earth, you are shamed into silence! Because you embrace a view at odds with the cultural warlords. If that is the outcome of cultural war, and you are the victims, I can only ask the gravely obvious question: What'll become of the right itself? Or other rights not deemed acceptable by the thought police? What other truth in your heart will you disavow with your hand?

I remember when European Jews feared to admit their faith. The Nazis forced them to wear six-pointed yellow stars sewn on their chests as identity badges. It worked. Soï¿½what color star will they pin on our coats? How will the self-styled elite tag us? There may not be a Gestapo officer on every street corner yet, but the influence on our culture is just as pervasive.

Now, I am not really here to talk about the Second Amendment or the NRA, but the gun issue clearly brings into focus the war that's going on.

Rank-and-file Americans wake up every morning, increasingly bewildered and confused at why their views make them lesser citizens. After enough breakfast-table TV promos hyping tattooed sex-slaves on the next Rikki Lake show, enough gun-glutted movies and tabloid talk shows, enough revisionist history books and prime-time ridicule of religion, enough of the TV anchor who cocks her pretty head, clucks her tongue and sighs about guns causing crime and finally the message gets through: Heaven help the God-fearing, law-abiding, Caucasian, middle class, Protestant, orï¿½even worseï¿½Evangelical Christian, Midwest, or Southern, orï¿½even worseï¿½rural, apparently straight, orï¿½even worseï¿½admittedly heterosexual, gun-owning orï¿½even worseï¿½NRA-card-carrying, average working stiff, orï¿½even worseï¿½male working stiff, because not only don't you count, you're a downright obstacle to social progress. Your tax dollars may be just as delightfully green as you hand them over, but your voice requires a lower decibel level, your opinion is less enlightened, your media access is insignificant, and frankly mister, you need to wake up, wise up and learn a little something about your new America...in fact, why don't you just sit down and shut up?

That's why you don't raise your hand. That's how cultural war works. And you are losing."

93. That article doesn't refute the OP though. It says that homicides in Stand your Ground states

go up 7 to 9 percent when the law is enacted (again I say, good lord!) and that the increase is higher among white men.

The fact that more white men are killed in Stand Your Ground states doesn't prove that the impulse for passing the law was not racist.

It could be, and I would wager it is, caused by the fact that a certain type of man, who nods approvingly at Charlton Heston's words, only associates willingly with white men. When this certain type of Charlton Heston fan gets pissed off, the likelihood is that there will only be other white men handy to fight with. With these laws, what used to be a fist fight turns into a shooting.

It could be that the increase in killings of white men under the Stand Your Ground laws is caused by simple proximity to those who feel that the Stand Your Ground laws were necessary in the first place.

188. Delete. Replied to wrong poster.

156. Read a study earlier today

wish I could remember where, the states with SYG laws have higher homicide rates that the states that don't have such silly laws. But even more revealing, most of the victims in SYG shootings are white males! Seems many shootings happen when both believe they are standing their ground.

35. You know the thing about privilege.

The OP is decidedly over the top. But you cannot discuss guns in this country without discussing race. There's no getting around it -- it's a power issue, and racism factors in, in this country.

Panthers knew that. They knew it made people really, really nervous to see them walking around with rifles. And it ultimately shifted the conversation, made people see it wasn't about who was inferior, or who was what color -- it was about power.

194. Gun ownership is a greater predictor of political party more than many other demographics

But the odds vary significantly based on the political identity of the child’s parents. If they identify as Democratic voters, the chances are only about one in four, or 25 percent, that they have a gun in their home. But the chances are more than twice that, almost 60 percent, if they are Republicans.

Whether someone owns a gun is a more powerful predictor of a person’s political party than her gender, whether she identifies as gay or lesbian, whether she is Hispanic, whether she lives in the South or a number of other demographic characteristics.

.............................................................................
Gun ownership has declined over the past 40 years — but almost all of the decrease has come from Democrats. By 2010, according to the General Social Survey, the gun ownership rate among adults that identified as Democrats had fallen to 22 percent. It remained at about 50 percent among Republican adults.

184. Don't try and move the goalposts.

The OP is about "white males with guns". There is nothing in there about police. Based on the photo the poster posted you said the Panthers were acting in response to the issue brought up in the OP. That is false. There was a gun control bill being considered in CA at the time and they did not want any gun control legislation. If you want history which I doubt read the link: http://www.pbs.org/hueypnewton/actions/actions_capitolmarch.html

201. Why is that there can be endless conversations about "what's wrong with black people"

"what's wrong with Hispanics/Asians/Arabs etc." but the SECOND the discussion turns to the MYRIAD dysfunction in the white community, particularly the deranged paranoia that Obama's election has brought about in large sub-sets of white people, people start tossing out the "you're race-baiting" angle?

Why are white people so exempt from this type of exploration? The OP is just pointing something out that the vast majority of people in this color have known for decades. What exactly is the problem?

204. I think it just proves what every person of color already knows

That racism is in no way only a Republican problem. It affects EVERYONE, Dem and Repub, regardless of how immune they may think they are. And anyone that says otherwise has either completely fooled themselves or is an idiot. Either one.

The so called gun rights movement is a component of the "Southern Strategy" to allow white men to have their own civil rights struggle however bogus.

136. Since you describe yourself as a Libertarian, I am not surprised you are a gun apologist.

209. Again with the gun owners = NRA fallacy

I have never belonged to, nor supported the NRA, I in fact work to ensure people that do not want to be exposed to the ILA talking points and propaganda are given an alternative to the almost monopoly the NRA enjoys as a voice for gun owners.
Consider, there are at least a hundred million gun owners in the US, and yet the NRA has 4 million members. Therefore by your logic you, me, and everyone else that wants a greener environmental policy are members or shills for the ALF and ELF.

36. How dastardly

And all I did was build a 2k post account, mostly talking about issues completely unrelated to guns (like how I felt about gay rights issues as a gay man) so that half a decade down the line I could claim to be a homosexual to make someone else look stupid.

You served on a randomly-selected Jury of DU members which reviewed this post. The review was completed at Sat Jan 5, 2013, 04:12 AM, and the Jury voted 3-3 to LEAVE IT.

Juror #1 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE and said: No explanation given
Juror #2 voted to HIDE IT and said: This whole thread is embarrassing - as is this reply.
Juror #3 voted to HIDE IT and said: Yeah, I read the conversation. And frankly, I think the gun fetishists ought to have a little respect for the 20 small children who were just brutally killed before they bleat endlessly about how dare anyone suggest any regulations on their stupid fucking designed-to-kill-lots-of-humans-rapidly toys. Yeah, that's right, I said it. FUCK YOUR GUNS. Also, alerter; it's spelled "vulgar".
Juror #4 voted to HIDE IT and said: Agree with the alerter. If you think he's trolling, alert on his posts, don't feed him.
Juror #5 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE and said: The alerter can't even spell vulgar. Robb is a fucking asshole and anything said in his face is fine with me.
Juror #6 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE and said: Having looked at the conversation, it definitely looks like Robb is the one trolling here.

15. No worries, they'll tell you she doesn't exist just like they told me I wasn't gay.

When I told them that I am a gay man who owns guns. Apparently literally the only people who own guys are white, Christian, conservative men and anyone who claims otherwise is an NRA TROLL INFLITARTOR OF DEMOCRATIC UNDERGROUND.

They'll of course ignore thousands of post going back several years as an elaborate rouse to gain the trust of this influential community.

I was willing to post evidence, I understand you probably won't want to do that on a public forum. After I did, I of course never got an apology or anything so it would be a waste of time.

31. Soooo, I just have to ask...

Where did all the guns in Chicago & Oakland & New Jersey, etc come from? Do other-than-white people have a special gun fairy who leaves them under their pillow while they sleep? And how about the drug cartels?
I've gotta +1 to the poster who said that this is racist. Add misanthropist. (clue: women own guns)
BTW, how *are* these guns going to be regulated? Criminals with guns + disarmed populace, oh that'll end well. /s

You should check out the DoJ's report on violence. And don't forget Twitter. LOTS of guns being waved around on Twitter, complete with assassination threats. Didn't Trayvon Martin have a Twitter or FB pic where he was "brandishing" a gun?
How do you suppose hyperbole like this plays with the average person- especially those who have legitimate concerns for the safety of themselves & their loved ones?

I know something of the history of this legislation. The original Act of 1893 was passed when there was a great influx of negro laborers in this State drawn here for the purpose of working in turpentine and lumber camps.... The Act was passed for the purpose of disarming the negro laborers and to thereby reduce the unlawful homicides that were prevalent in turpentine and saw-mill camps and to give the white citizens in sparsely settled areas a better feeling of security. The statute was never intended to be applied to the white population.... It is a safe guess to assume that more than 80% of the white men living in the rural sections of Florida have violated this statute.... There has never been, within my knowledge, any effort to enforce the provisions of this statute as to white people, because it has been generally conceded to be in contravention of the Constitution and non-enforceable if contested.

57. White male privilege responsible for shooting, professor argues

A history professor at Pasadena City College blamed mass shootings, such as the recent tragedy at Sandy Hook, on “frustrated white male privilege.”

Hugo Schwyzer, a professor of history and gender studies, told National Review Online that mass murders in the U.S. are increasingly committed by white males suffering from “cognitive dissonance,” in a country that is trending toward multiculturalism. White males feel “powerless compared to everyone else around them,” he said.

Schwyzer expanded on this theory in an article he wrote in response to the Aurora, Colorado shooting last July.

“White men are raised to expect to be welcomed wherever they go,” he wrote. “When they find that that automatic welcome isn’t forthcoming, they tend to be indignant. When angry middle-class whites gather together in political groups to “take back our country,” what they want to grab back are the privileges they sense they’ve lost.”

125. Hugo Schwyzer is grasping for....

....attention. Do you really think "white male privilege" is the best explanation as to why these things happen? Or maybe "white male privilege" is what is the root cause of this nations mental health issues?

People tie things to race because it is an attention grabber and it stirs very powerful emotions. Emotions and rational thinking don't often go together. I would rather have problems solved based on rational/logical thinking than emotion.

66. 54% of Americans want stricter gun laws including 59% of women, 56% percent of white men oppose them

What's so bad about Americans having all these guns? The murder rate is at an all-time low, right? Well, sort of. More like emergency medical treatment efficacy is at an all-time high. As the gun debate reaches a fevered pitch, from Washington to Twitter to Newtown and back again, in the wake of the Sandy Hook school shootings, here is some much needed context:
-----------------------------------------------------

20 percent: Amount male ownership of guns has decreased since 1980. White males are a shrinking portion of the electorate. They are the clear targets of gun ads. Here's a Christmas ad for a .223-calibre Bushmaster, the carbine used in the Newtown school shooting, at right.

67% of Northeasterners are for stricter gun control and America's most violent region, the Southeast only 46% are for stricter gun regulations. Once again the South lags behind more advanced states and nations.

68. Wow. Just, wow.

73. OK,let's be frank

Chalking the WHOLE mess up to "white male privilege" is BULL. I am Latino, and I know many Latino and other minority "gun nuts" that are better armed than some police forces.

However, there is an elephant in the room that sticks out like the dozens of Confederate battle Flags that show at these gun shows, or like the black outlines of Obama as a target sold. A lot of what feeds the industry is the desire, yes desire of feeling that if those dark people and gubbamint types come, they can get shot. It is why when Tray Martin got shot, many, even here on DU, made excuses for Zimmerman.

In short, there is a factor here that cannot be ignored.. It is not the whole NRA, nor is it all white people...but to talk about the FEAR that fuels this, we do have to ask why people who were citizens of a nation that never had a civil war within their lifetime, who have never dealt with a foreign army invading their soil, are arming themselves as if the Taliban is ready to blow up the Burger King?

98. What he said!

124. honestly because they dont want to the criminals next victim

When a man or woman is desperate they will take what they need. most junkies dont rob because its fun the rob for things/money to buy drugs.

Home invasions now are seeing the largest increase I have seen. In my military hometown this also means about every other week if not more often we have a story about a citizen using their gun to kill or shoot an attacker. they are tired of waiting for the police to come 30min later to fill out a report and offer a charity ride to the hospital. ( you do know the hospital bills the victim if they are assaulted and need medical treatment right)

Some people dont feel the need or have the desire to own firearms and that is 1000% ok with me. Just dont punish those that do. In my life i have had to present my firearm 2 times. I never shot someone but ironically 2 days later at the same walmart a pack of thugs tried to rob me at ( i told them not interested and then 2 ran towards me I presented my handgun and they quickly ran a way i got in my car and rove home) the armed citizen shot 1 robber in a parking lot robbery attempt. So there after the walmart super center went from 24hr to 6am to midnight hours.

For some people a gun provides them with a fighting chance in a situation no one wants to be in. Think (5'1" 145lb 40 yr old woman vs 6'3" 235lb man that has broken in to her home or followed her to her car after a work dinner.

197. lets define some concepts

For the home, do you need a magazine with more than six shots? Why not a shotgun?

Second, do you honestly expect people to ignore the outright race pandering that does happen at these gunshows? The Dixie Flags, the literature that talks of having to fight the government? No, it is not the whole of gun ownership, but a cancer is not the whole of a body, until it gets fatal that is.

165. Race baiting thread

82. Buying military weapons - opportunity to make a monetary killing....

white males do seem to be more proactive at making money, now that I think of it.

It had occurred to me, a female, that a black market for the banned items would spring up, but it hadn't occurred to me to buy any of it now in order to sell it later and make a killing financially. Not that I would do such a thing with assault weapons or high count mags.

It's like the difference between someone who has good ideas for inventions, and those who MAKE new inventions. Two different kinds of people. One is much more proactive.

Since there are more white males than any other type of male, they would have more guns, to begin with, wouldn't they? And I think not many females buy guns.

92. How do you feel about applying that notion to gay stereotypes???? nt

94. It depends on why one would be doing this.

For example, if we were back in the early eighties trying to understand the epidemiology of aids, understanding gay culture and the general habits of gay men might be, and in fact was, critical to slowing the spread of the disease. This actually was a huge issue in the gay community in the early eighties. If on the other hand you just want to make hairdresser jokes then you are a bigot.

Understanding gun culture would seem to be vitally important if we want to diminish its capacity for deadly violence.

96. Statistical research is not stereotypes.

Stereotypes, at best, are useful heuristics, and they never tell you anything about an individual, individuals are not compelled by statistics.

In this case the problem is that neither skin color nor gender will tell you how someone feels about guns, or much of anything else for that matter, so focusing on that just prevents you from looking at the things that might.

100. No, that was understanding real gay culture, which was necessary.

Stereotypes are not real, they are cultural fictions, like money and gender roles. You can easily show that lots of women do the dishes, that's a fact. The stereotype says that they ought to do dishes, or they like doing dishes, or its natural for them to do dishes. The same considerations apply to white males and their affection or lack of it for guns. Some of us hate guns (as is perfectly clear here on DU for example) and some of us don't care much.

I think we're nuts and can't even have an intelligent conversation on the subject.

89. My great grandmother owned, as did my grandmother, as did my mother, and I do too.

Great grandmother was full blood Cherokee so neither white nor male, they say she was a crackshot.

My grandfather owned rifles, shotguns, and pistols. He wasn't much fairer (if any) than say Wesley Snipes. His cousins all hunted, would at times carry for self defense, and for farm use.

I also know plenty of white folks that have nothing to do with a gun (and plenty with several too) and plenty of black folks who own. As a percentage in my circles, more black people own.
Anecdotal evidence does indicate that white people into guns are way more into them than black people who own and they own more per person.

A male thing I can see. Outside of my family, female ownership is a much less common. Not rare but not in high numbers either. White? Meh...not that I see and even among the gun nuttiest white folks that I associate with is it about privilege that I can detect (hint: they might not want to be hanging with me if that was a principle driver).

99. So in otherwords; credit card debt can be surmised by white female privilidge...

104. Not really true

I'm against any assault weapons but I carry a handgun in my truck for safety. I drive long haul and have had a few attempted robberies. I delivered a load in Trenton NJ late one night and made a wrong turn down a street where my truck was surrounded by some thugs. One of them came to my cab with a baseball bat and I pulled out my pistol while I called 911. They took off but not before the cops got there.

116. I guess those black people with a gun are white.

117. Young African American Male. College Educated, Small businessman, very involved in commuinty

You are sadly mistaken.

A bit about me: College Educated Black Male, Married with infant child, gun owner for over 10 years. I own multiple firearms (locked and secured unless under my control/holster). I own what some call "assault rifles", bolt guns, shotguns (semi and pump and sidebyside) multiple handguns (from small shield 9mm to full size competition race guns). I buy about 2k rounds of ammunition a month and reload another 500-1000 a month. I am a CCW holder and My wife is as well she caries also. I also teach gun safety and CCW courses on the side.

I started teaching gun safety after many of the older members of my church started to inquire why I (son of dentist mother and Businessman father, never been in trouble with the law, successful good guy) have a gun. I told them for my protection and they all said surprisingly they wanted one for protection in their homes as their had been a rash of crimes in the area of older persons including a few rapes and murders. They were mostly African Americans and were very interested in going shooting and learning about guns.

That was years ago now I train 50-100 mostly minorities every 2 months (women all races, lots of African american plus 40 yrs old and lots of young african american professionals in their 20s and 30s).

We as African Americans have been taught to be subservient to the authority of another ("the man"). We have been taught that only thugs and police have and need guns. We are very uneducated about our rights as a whole and specifically the 2nd amendment. We do not even know the father of the modern gun control movement was Ronald Reagan. Modern gun control was his baby it was his way of making sure the power of "the man" could not be challenged by armed black citizens.

Most common guns i see African Americans buying are:
Handguns (usually 4" barrel or smaller for concealed carry)
Shotgun for home defense (most common are inexpensive pump shotguns like mossberg 500s Maveriks and Remingtons)
More recently modern sporting rifles like flat top AR-15s are gaining fast adoption among target and competition shooters. this is mostly because of their ease in customization and accuracy as the ar-15 is the king of rifles in 3 gun competitions.

So like music and almost everything else gun ownership and sporting use is cross racial and socioeconomic levels. and just like every thing else (money, health care access, ect...) Many blacks have a negative relationships guns. But that does not mean that their are not many African american gun owners or supporters of the. Go look at states like Alabama and Mississippi many black black families hunt and defend themselves with guns. I live in NC I do my best to educate all I know about responsible gun ownership and their gun rights.

148. And every word of it true.

118. What a load of s^^t.

I live in a neighborhood that has AA, whites, Hispanics, and Asians and the one common denominator is that we all have guns in our homes, we all get along together and on occasion, like to go shooting together.
Your OP is nothing more than hateful flamebait and is one of the reasons that we can't have a meaningful, honest discussion on gun control.

127. So you are saying white male previlege has no political implications in this debate?

132. MightyMopar.....

...I think he and others are trying to say that if there are any political implications of the "white male privilege" concerning this debate, they are very miniscule. There are so many other much more significant subjects to be discussing without bringing race into it.

The race subject is really distracting and unecessary....find some other arguing points. There are plenty.

135. BUT

When you start your OP with WHITE/MALE/GUNS the haters and grab nuts will have a collective orgasm and give you hundreds of posts possibly getting you a DUzy award and propel you to a place of honor on the greatest page.

138. NOT A SINGLE POST TO DISPROVE THAT GUN OWNERSHIP ISN'T OVERWHELMINGLY WHITE MALE

Study: Latinos More Likely To Favor Strict Gun Control

Posted: 04/26/2012 5:32 pm Updated: 04/26/2012

Latinos are more likely than both whites and African Americans to favor strict gun control laws, according to a report released by the Pew Research Center on Wednesday.

The survey found that 57 percent of whites "say it is more important to protect the rights of Americans to own guns" while "just 37 percent say it is more important to control gun ownership."

Latinos responded very differently. Just 29 percent of Latinos said that it is more important to protect gun ownership rights, than it is to control gun ownership. African American opinions fell in the middle of the two groups, with 35 percent of subjects answering that it is more important to protect the rights of Americans to own guns.

141. Using Romney's pollster you're right but whites aren't a majority anymore

That part of the point of this OP, demographics is fixing turn hard against the gun crowd. Many gunners ar dying off because of old age and being replaced in the electorate by urban, black, Asian and Hispanic voters who are far less gun friendly regardless annecdotal assertions and pictures. Want a picture of an African American hockey player?

139. Bullshit, mopar

In my traditional community (Northern Ute, Ft. Duchesne, Utah), most households are well armed, as are most people all across Indian Country. I'd wager Native people have the highest rates of firearms ownership of any ethnic group in the country. From my casual, non scientific observation, I'd say that probably 90% of legally eligible males own guns, and nearly as many women. We also vote Democratic at a 90-95% rate. We learned the hard way what happens when we are stripped of the means to defend ourselves. We aren't going to allow that to happen again.

155. We are not...

..."expecting" a confrontation, I thought I made that clear. But WRT issues of tribal sovereignty, there is the possibility, however remote, that we could have to assert our sovereignty with the threat of armed resistance. The very threat could give the government pause, and make them reconsider their policies and actions.

162. Bury my Heart at Wounded Knee

I highly suggest you read that as an introduction to the modern history.

Tribes across the US are not paranoid. Nor is this an NRA talking point. There is a long history, of which most members of the dominant culture are woefully unaware off, blissfully so.

Nor s anybody talking of a tyrannical government, but of the Federal Government no longer following the agreements with sovereign nations. It would not be the first time the Feds ahem, ignore treaties with independent nations.

215. Point to any progromm in US history

Russia and Poland don't count.

Yes, there was a lot of discrimination historically, still is to be honest. But please, point to one.

I will wait.

Also point to official US extermination policy. (I will kindly point you in the right direction, WW II before any of the camps were even found, let alone liberated. But one of the members of the Cabinet was Jewish, funny dat). That's the closest anybody can come to anything close.

Yes, you played a card. And funny thing in the PMs not a one progromm was mentioned but the upcoming glorious revolution.

216. in deference to the flu I will assume you meant Pogrom.

I have many and various reasons to wish to maintain my arms, as well as the ability to retain a level of proficiency and expertise. That would not seem that hard to understand. Is you Computer only for DU, or do you also work and check movie times? I also have various "traits" that could paint me as a problem to be "solved", my last name and family history only being one.

historically MANY different ethnicities, have attempted to exterminate perceived others, and yes it has happened here. And in "civilized" Europe, in the the last 2 decades, it is happening today in Chiappas and in the Middle East against the Marsh Arabs, in S.E. Asia against the Hmong, most specifically the Montagnard people. Every day, all over the world.
I prefer to be vigilant and prepared, lest I wake up on the wrong side of someones to do list.

218. first so we are on the same page

pogrom noun (Concise Encyclopedia)
Mob attack, condoned by authorities, against persons and property of a religious, racial, or national minority. The term is usually applied to attacks on Jews in Russia in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

You are going to say there were was no official programs to remove the Native Americans? To Anglicize those that were in the reservations, and send out the Cavalry to deal with the rest?
The South throughout Reconstruction, I could go on for a week.
Violence against the Chinese workers ("coolies") on the West Coast?
How about the knee jerk violence immediately after 9/11 against Muslims, or even Sikhs and Indians in the mistaken belief they were all "Towel Heads".. The continued under class exploitation of Hispanic migrant workers and "illegal" aliens... The complete lack of media concern for inner city "black on black" crime? So, yeah forgive me if I doubt the core decency of the average American as regards to the obvious other.

222. Correlation is not causation. The OP is bigoted race-baiting flamebait.

Of course we cannot dismiss the importance of race relations in the gun debate.

However, all races now have access to all the same guns and gun shows, etc., so if anything, these frightened NRA types should want more gun regulations, but they don't.

What does Michael Moore REALLY think is at the root of the problem?

~snip~
1. We Americans are incredibly good killers. We believe in killing as a way of accomplishing our goals. Three-quarters of our states execute criminals, even though the states with the lower murder rates are generally the states with no death penalty.

Our killing is not just historical (the slaughter of Indians and slaves and each other in a "civil" war). It is our current way of resolving whatever it is we're afraid of. It's invasion as foreign policy. Sure there's Iraq and Afghanistan – but we've been invaders since we "conquered the wild west" and now we're hooked so bad we don't even know where to invade (bin Laden wasn't hiding in Afghanistan, he was in Pakistan) or what to invade for (Saddam had zero weapons of mass destruction and nothing to do with 9/11). We send our lower classes off to do the killing, and the rest of us who don't have a loved one over there don't spend a single minute of any given day thinking about the carnage. And now we send in remote pilotless planes to kill, planes that are being controlled by faceless men in a lush, air conditioned studio in suburban Las Vegas. It is madness.

2. We are an easily frightened people and it is easy to manipulate us with fear. What are we so afraid of that we need to have 300 million guns in our homes? Who do we think is going to hurt us? Why are most of these guns in white suburban and rural homes? Maybe we should fix our race problem and our poverty problem (again, number one in the industrialized world) and then maybe there would be fewer frustrated, frightened, angry people reaching for the gun in the drawer. Maybe we would take better care of each other (here's a good example of what I mean).

Those are my thoughts about Aurora and the violent country I am a citizen of. Like I said, I spelled it all out here if you'd like to watch it or share it for free with others. All we're lacking here, my friends, is the courage and the resolve. I'm in if you are.

He's also said some pretty stupid things, like most guns are bought by white men who fear black men, or similar:

~~snip~~

“I get why the Russians might be a little spooked (over 20 million of them died in World War II). But what's our excuse?” Moore said. “Worried that the Indians from the casino may go on the warpath? Concerned that the Canadians seem to be amassing too many Tim Horton's donut shops on both sides of the border?”

“No. It's because too many white people are afraid of black people,” he said. “Period.”

Moore continued: “The vast majority of the guns in the U.S. are sold to white people who live in the suburbs or the country. When we fantasize about being mugged or home invaded, what's the image of the perpetrator in our heads? Is it the freckled-face kid from down the street – or is it someone who is, if not black, at least poor?”

“I think it would be worth it to a) do our best to eradicate poverty and re-create the middle class we used to have, and b) stop promoting the image of the black man as the boogeyman out to hurt you,” he said.